Two for Dinner
by Rurichan
Summary: Icchan and Shuuko go out for dinner. Spoiler warning for those who haven't seen past ep 13 of the anime.


Warning massive spoilers everywhere. Spoilers for Ep 13 and up.  
  
  
-Two for Dinner-  
  
-*--*--*--*--*-  
  
"You can stop here."  
  
Shuuko looked up to see Icchan standing at the console.  
  
She shook her head, "No, I can go on, we can finish this today."  
  
"You shouldn't push yourself too much."  
  
"Its okay..." she said, "I don't want the new system to fail that's all."  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Icchan coughed  
and pushed his glasses back up his nose, he didn't want to admit that   
he worried most about her.  
  
Shuuko wheeled her way to the door and said, "Well I better go."  
  
"Wait!" he said.  
  
She turned in her chair.  
  
"How about some dinner?" he asked lamely.  
  
She smiled at him and said, "Icchan are you asking me out on a date?"  
  
"Well I..."  
  
She giggled, "Well... where shall we go?"  
  
"Anywhere." he said as he took the handles of her chair and pushed her  
out the door.  
  
  
-*--*--*--*--*-  
  
  
"The last time we did this you were worried about Misaki in the semi-  
finals."  
  
Shuuko smiled and took a sip of her iced milk tea. "Ooh! Cold!" she said   
with a smile.  
  
Yuuko smiled at Shuuko. Since Misaki had made it into nationals Shuuko   
had become stronger, more confident.  
  
"Nee Yuuko."  
  
"Yes?" she asked.  
  
"I made a decision." she said with a smile as she ate her cake.  
  
"And?"  
  
"I decided that I'll meet Misaki." she said.  
  
"That's wonderful."  
  
"At nationals." she said.  
  
Yuuko smiled, "When you make a decision, you make it with flair."  
  
Shuuko smiled with a blush, "I don't want to show up on her doorstep,   
I want to her to see me working hard. I want to show her what I've been   
doing for the last seven years."  
  
"Chair and all?" Yuuko asked.  
  
Shuuko nodded, "Chair and all... if it came down to it." she said.  
  
Yuuko smiled, "I'm glad." she took a bite of her parfait while she thought   
of a new subject to talk about. "Last time we were here we talked about   
who we liked."  
  
Shuuko blushed.  
  
"Oh! That reminds me." Yuuko exclaimed. "Icchan's assistant mentioned   
he saw you two leaving for the night."  
  
Shuuko blushed even more. "Poor Oogata." she managed to say.  
  
"Yes well... he's so high strung." Yuuko said, "But don't distract me."  
  
Shuuko hid her face behind her hands.  
  
"So its true!" Yuuko said.  
  
"It was just dinner." Shuuko said with a blush.  
  
"From the looks of it its more than dinner."  
  
"We were both there and he asked me to dinner..." she trailed off.  
  
"Most romances start that way you know."  
  
Shuuko blushed harder.  
  
Yuuko chuckled, "Well... I'm not surprised."  
  
"Surprised?"  
  
Yuuko did not say anything. She took a bite of her dessert. "I love   
strawberries."  
  
"Yuuko!" Shuuko exclaimed, "Don't leave me hanging!"  
  
  
-*--*--*--*--*-  
  
  
Shuuko sighed as she pulled the visor off.  
  
"You're a bit off today."  
  
She looked up to see Icchan standing at the door. He looked concerned.   
She smiled at her friend, "Its nothing. I have some things on my mind."  
  
He smiled, "About Misaki at Nationals?"  
  
She nodded as she stared at the visor.  
  
"From what I heard, she chose her second well. Kobayashi Hatoko, the   
one who lost to Shirahime."  
  
Shuuko smiled, "And who is /my/ second?"  
  
Icchan began to mutter as he looked into the pockets of his lab coat. Shuuko   
chuckled and wheeled her way to the door. Shuuko never really needed a   
second, she was so adept with her Angel that it seemed almost unnecessary.   
Usually Yuuko acted as her second even though it was really the company.  
  
"Are you busy tonight?" he asked.  
  
She looked up at him with surprise.  
  
"I was thinking... since everybody has gone..."  
  
She smiled and said, "Dinner again?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
She smiled, "Do this again and you'll give the staff something to talk about."  
  
"They can talk all they want." he said under his breath as he took the handles   
of her chair and pushed her out of the lab.  
  
Shuuko's eyes widened. She stared at her hands and wondered if Yuuko was   
right. After all... they were both about the same age, both single. She didn't   
tell him that her timing was off because he was on the other side of the glass   
watching her every move. She didn't tell him that. Curse Yuuko for putting   
ideas in her head!  
  
"Shuuko...?"  
  
"Yes?" she asked as she sat up.  
  
"I was going to suggest Italian but you didn't answer, maybe you're too tired?"  
  
"No!" she exclaimed, "Italian is fine."  
  
  
-*--*--*--*--*-  
  
  
"So another dinner." Yuuko said as she pushed Shuuko to the lab.  
  
"Yes." Shuuko said.  
  
"Did he try anything?" Yuuko asked in a sly tone.  
  
"Yuuko!" Shuuko exclaimed, "Of course not! We're just friends."  
  
Yuuko didn't say anything as she pushed Shuuko past the lab lobby.  
  
"So where did you go this time?"  
  
"Italian."  
  
"Romantic."  
  
"Yuuko." Shuuko said in a warning tone.  
  
Yuuko chuckled, "Shuuko-chan, I only want what's best for you."  
  
"So?" Shuuko asked confused as they entered the lab.  
  
"I think Icchan is good for you, after all... you both have a friendship that   
is built on trust. If it weren't for you Angelic Layer would have never   
happened." Yuuko said with a smile.  
  
Shuuko sighed. "We do don't we."  
  
Just at that moment, Icchan burst through the door of the lab and hid behind   
some equipment. He glanced at Shuuko and held a finger up to his lips.   
Shuuko giggled.  
  
"Mihara Chief!" Oogata called. He opened the door to the lab. "Have you   
seen Mihara Chief?" he asked  
  
Shuuko shook her head, "Not here." she said as she tried tokeep a straight   
face.  
  
Oogata drooped lower, "Oh why do you keep disappearing on me! Now I'll   
get punished!" His voice faded away as he walked down the hall.  
  
Shuuko smiled at Icchan as she tried not to giggle. Icchan stood up from his   
hiding place and smiled at Shuuko, "Ready?"  
  
Shuuko nodded and reached for Atena.  
  
"We don't need Atena." he said. He nodded at Yuuko who let go of the chair.   
  
"We don't?" she asked.  
  
"No," he said as he wheeled her down the hall. He pushed her into another   
room. The mechanical legs stood next to a wall. "We can work with the data   
from the tournament to progress with the legs." he said.  
  
Shuuko placed a hand on the legs, "Are you sure we have enough?"  
  
"I think so." he said. "Maybe you'll be able to walk to Misaki by the time you   
meet up with her at Nationals."  
  
Shuuko smiled at him. Icchan smiled back and then ducked behind a computer.  
  
"Nee Icchan." she said after a moment of staring at the top of his head.  
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
"What do you do on your free time?" she asked.  
  
"What free time?" he asked in a deadpan tone.  
  
"You must have some free time." she said.  
  
He chuckled, "The only time I get is when I run away from Oogata."  
  
Shuuko chuckled.  
  
"He means well... really, but he just crowds me." he sighed.  
  
"So when you run away from your assistant..." Shuuko said after a moment   
of listening to the fast clatter of his typing.  
  
"I see Misaki." he said.  
  
"You don't spend all your free time with my daughter." Shuuko said as she   
wheeled around to face him.  
  
"No." he said, "I go home, get some sleep, get something to eat." he looked   
up at her, "What's with the questions all of a sudden?"  
  
"Nothing, I was just wondering." she said.  
  
"Suddenly?"  
  
"Well... we've known each other for over five years." she said, "You'd think I'd   
know a little bit more about you." It had been over five years ago when he arrived   
at her door ready to help her with her physical therapy. He was such a subdued,   
polite man then. Now he ran around in a lab coat and wild hair. Angelic Layer   
had changed him, especially since it was doing phenomenally well, surprisingly   
well for the company that had rejected his research because it wasn't foolproof.  
  
He stared at her for a moment as if he was on the verge of saying something.   
They probably would have stayed that way if it weren't for the quiet beeping of   
the computer.  
  
"The data has been entered." he said as he cleared his throat and looked down   
at the computer. "We can begin work on the legs now."  
  
Shuuko wheeled her chair back around and stared at the legs. Soon she'd be   
able to walk. Just a bit more.  
  
They spent the rest of the day with the legs and the data, getting them to move   
with the visor. The extra data allowed the legs to move but not fluidly. They both   
agreed that they needed more data from the next tournament to make the legs   
move easier. It was progress, slow painstaking progress.  
  
Finally he sighed with relief and locked down the computer. "Let's call it a day."   
he said.  
  
"I'm fine." Shuuko said as she slowly walked to her chair.  
  
"I know." he said with a smile as he held her chair steady for her.  
  
"Why don't we go on? Its early." she asked as she looked up at him.  
  
"I was thinking about dinner." he said.  
  
"Dinner?"  
  
"How about Chinese?" he asked.  
  
"Chinese is fine." she said.  
  
"Good, if we leave now we can leave with out them knowing." he said as he   
wheeled her out of the lab and down the hall.  
  
"You make it sound like we're sneaking away from parents."  
  
"I'm sneaking away from prying eyes." he said. "You're not the only person   
that gets asked you know."  
  
Shuuko smiled. "What do you tell them?"  
  
"That its not their business who I spend my free time with." he said. "Its just two   
people having dinner."  
  
Shuuko settled into her chair and smiled. "Yes... let them talk."  
  
  
-*--*--*--*--*-  
  
Notes:  
  
Shuuko- Misaki's mother's name "Sh"+ little "yu" + little "u" + "ko" which is   
pronounced Shuuko (with a long "u" like saying the word "you")  
  
Shouko- Misaki's aunt and Shuuko's younger sister.   
"Sh"+ little "yo" + little "u" + "ko" which is pronounced Shouko   
(with a slight "y" at the front of the ou sort of like like a soft "yo").  
  
Yuuko- who is Shuuko's lab co-worker/assistant  
  
Oogata- who is Iichan's assistant and resident whipping boy. Poor Oogata.  
  
Icchan- Icchan rocks XD I love him the best out of the series. The entire Mihara family   
is great! XD  
  
I'm using the anime timeline for various reasons 1) it actually had back story, 2) there   
is a precious scene where Iichan and Shuuko meet, he's blushing. Whether its friendship   
or more who knows. I'm not sure myself. At first I wanted them together, possibly because   
the thought of Iichan as Misaki's dad and Oujirou as her brother is precious. XD But then   
I thought it was best if there was no definite ending. ^^  
  
Stephanie 12/01 - doki-doki.org/blog/ 


End file.
